This invention relates generally to systems and methods for transferring data files and, more particularly, to a system and method for performing platform-independent data file transfers within a client-server network.
During operation of a client-server network, it is often desirable to transfer data files between network nodes, such as clients and/or servers. In at least some such networks, a database, or a server having a database, may store an entire data file within a database table for a particular record. For example, a database may include a table that holds, for each record, a record identifier and a data file associated with the identified record. As the number of records grows, however, the database size increases quickly due to the additional data files. This may greatly impact the speed in which queries are processed within the database, as well as the speed of adding new records to the database.
Moreover, at least some databases may store entire data files of binary data, such as images, audio, and/or other multimedia objects, as Binary Large Objects (BLOBs). For example, a database may include a table that holds, for each record, a record identifier and a BLOB associated with the identified record. Such a database is subject to the same performance issues described above. Accordingly, a system that enables data file transfer into and out of a database, independent of the operating system transferring the data file, is needed.